God never fails you:

In October 2016, my family and I were facing a deep abyss financially. This was due to my quitting the job in order to rescue a project I had in hand producing a soap opera.

During this time, my family and I attended a retreat which was organized by a Catholic group in New York. On the second day of the retreat, a message of God came through a lady who was a part of the ‘fast and pray group’ and the message was: “The Lord is showing a person who is having a huge financial crisis and not knowing how to face even the day, tomorrow, and the Lord says,”, Do not fear my child within two weeks, I am going to open a mighty door for you.”

I, without any hesitation, went up and claimed the message. There were about hundred people attending the retreat. But it was only I who claimed it.

The word of God came on October 14^th, 2016, and I got the job in a miraculous way on October 27^th, 2016  -- within two weeks.

 Our Lord never fails to answer our prayers. Thanks be to God for another great help!

  

God will never let you sink:

In 2014, I ventured into producing a soap opera. I extracted one chapter from one of the books I wrote and used it as the plot. Due to a lack of knowledge about producing a tele-drama and as a result having to solely depend on the director, I ended up having a myriad problems; mainly financial.

I was unable to offer a collateral. The bank loan, thus was taken on high interest. 

The work was completed about six months after the estimated time period. I was not sure how to pay the interest on the bank loan. Additionally, I had to stop working in order to supervise the project. My only income to support my family was my salary.

Throughout my journey, faith has been a constant companion. I prayed extremely hard knowing my Lord would help me. My faith taught me to look for the light, even when shadows seemed overwhelming. It was not only me; my family, some priests, and nuns we knew, too prayed for me to find a TV network which would accept my work.

After much prayers and hard work a Television Network accepted my soap opera for televising.

The televising of the soap opera, which finally came into eighty-four episodes, commenced on October 19^th 2015, and completed in March of 2016.

In October 2017, the tele-drama won eight awards at a SIGNIS competition.

I thank and Praise the Lord for this great help.

 

 

A chance of stranding was averted

Dear reader, your first look at this short narrative you may think that his happened in 1906. Not really, this happened in 2006. And this was one the series of consequences I suffered for ignoring God’s message. God loves his creations.

 All this was due to a wrong decision I took to leave a good shore job I was doing and to join a ship outside my regular company.

It was a beautiful morning on February 20, 2006, at 09 00 hours in the Eastern Atlantic off the coast of West Africa. The general cargo ship, “Cape Agulhas”, under my command  was approaching the port of Lobito, and the distance remaining go was about twenty nautical miles. The ship suddenly stopped due to another power failure. All three generators on board had major problems. However, one was doing the job . It was the third power failure experienced during that short voyage. The engineers got on with repairing the generator.

When the ship stopped twenty miles south of the entrance to the port of Lobito, my thoughts based on the information on the ocean currents chart that the ship would drift northward with the Benguela Current setting in that direction; no need to be alarmed. Further, the current would push the ship towards the harbor entrance. The only consolation during this entire time had been the fine weather.

Besides mechanical problems, there were also administrative problems. I had not come across a in competent second engineer who was onboard at that time. Adding to that, whenever I spoke with him, he talked about experiences he had had on two or three dead ships, ships that he had been onboard which had to be towed. Those were very discouraging stories.

Due to incompetence of the second engineer, the chief engineer had not wanted him  to interfere. But without listening to the chief engineer, this person had made worse the condition of the only working generator.          

The moment I was informed of the situation, I called the agents at Lobito via the VHF set onboard and informed them that we were having problems with the generator and it was being repaired. As soon as the repairs were complete we would proceed towards the pilot boarding ground of the port. The person I spoke with was Carlos from the ship’s local agent at Lobito. He was extremely helpful and kept in constant contact with the ship.

While waiting for a miracle to take place, at around 16:00 hours on that day,  I had the worst possible news from the chief engineer,  the generator had completely ceased to function due to overheating. That was the grand finale!

I, immediately called Carlos and informed him that the ship was now without motive power—it was disabled and required a tug’s assistance to tow it to port. He agreed with my suggestion and later called and informed me that a port tug with pilot onboard would be arriving to tow the ship. I received this news at around 1700 hours.

Darkness was enveloping the that part of world around us. It seemed so symbolic of what lay ahead in the coming hours. This was a rough battle and those of us who venture out to the sea prepare to battle not only the natural storms but the storms of life.

It was a woeful situation for everyone onboard. Each was wondering what was going to happen. I instructed the chief officer to prepare both anchors in case of an emergency – the ship was in anchoring depths and the depth in that location was about sixty feet.

I was incredibly happy about the way the Myanmar officers and crew acted during this crisis situation. The ship’s galley was non-functional as it was an electrically operated facility. But the two cooks and crew set up a wood-fired stove on deck and brewed tea and prepared the evening meal for all onboard. It was a commendable action. Fresh water had to be drawn manually from a tank which was in the after part of the ship. The boatswain opened the cover of the tank and drew water with buckets for cooking and washing purposes. A few members of my crew supplied fresh water for my bathroom.

It was a great effort under such a hopeless and dangerous situation; the morale of my crew was at peak. I thanked God for their enthusiasm, unity, and fellowship in the wake of a calamity. We used emergency lighting after sunset. According to my last terrestrial observation it appeared that the ship was getting closer to land. However, there was no way to confirm the position. Under the circumstances, I advised all officers and crew members to be extra vigilant.

                                                                                              

It was dark in the crew accommodation area and none of the crew members went to their cabins. They were all wandering about on the after deck.

 At around 2215 hours a port tug came along to tow the ship. As the tug approached, I called the pilot and requested him to ascertain the position of the ship.  

The pilot said, “Captain, according to my position your ship is only 2.5 nautical miles from the nearest partly submerged rocks. In my opinion, according to estimated direction and strength of current the ship would strand within approximately four hours. Please tell your crew to hurry and give a strong line from the ship to connect-up and start towing.” I instructed the chief officer accordingly and the tow line was connected and the tug commenced towing the ship at around 2245 hours.

I thanked God for saving us from stranding.

Cape Agulhas was a big ship and in a “fully loaded” condition. It took some time for the tug to gather momentum and pull the ship forward. None of us slept that night. I took short naps on the bunk in a cabin adjacent to the navigation bridge. 

At daybreak, we found that the ship was remarkably close to the entrance of the harbor.

Another tug was called and attended around 1000 hours. The pilot and the two tug masters did a commendable job and the ship was towed into the port and was docked safely at around 1200 hours. It was nice to be in a safe place.

 I thanked and praised the Lord.

 

 

Humility in Success:

This time I was the chief officer on a reefer cargo ship. The was docked in the port of Cape Town and was loading citrus cargo.

One morning, I met the ship’s local agent when he was leaving after meeting with the captain. When he saw me, he stopped to talk to me “Good morning, Mister Mate.” “Good morning, Joe.”

He continued “Please keep an eye, the owners, Shirley will board the ship sometime today.” I said to him “Thanks Joe.”

I was on deck and the time was around 10.30 a.m., I saw a lady attired in a ‘T’ shirt and pair of blue jeans coming out of one of the refer holds of the ship.

I immediately asked the duty officer who was also on the deck at that time, “Who gave permission this woman to go into the hold?”

He was not even aware that this has happened.

She walked up to me and said, “Good morning”. I said, “Good morning, Madam, with whose permission did you go into the cargo hold?”

She started to laugh and said “I am Shirley Mckoiney. Sorry, I did not have any permission, but as I am in a bit of a hurry I decided to do so!”

I asked her “Are you from the owners?” She smiled and said, “I am the owner, and I appreciate your interest.”

I then asked Would you like to see the captain?”

“Oh no, please do not disturb him, just tell him that I came around to have a look.”

After that, Mrs. Shirley Mckoiney left the ship.

 

Dereliction of duty… But saved by a miracle.

 \After working ashore as a marine surveyor for about eight years, I decided to go back to sea. And I was in command of a 5000 DWT a conventional cargo ship. On my first voyage, around the month March 2004, the ship was to load with bagged cargo in all three holds and on deck with teak logs.

Prior to arrival in Yangon, we were well in advance informed that no was cargo lashing material is available in Yangon, and all have to be imported from Singapore. Therefore, the agents in Yangon wanted to know if the ship required any lashing material, and if so, to send them the requisition as soon as possible. We had well over three weeks before the ship got to Yangon, and therefore we sent our lashing material requisition.

 The cargo was loaded at Yangon and there was adequate lashing material to lash and secure the of teak logs which was loaded on deck and hatch tops of the ship. After a peaceful voyage to Mumbai the cargo discharged.    

In June 2004, the vessel sailed on ballast (No cargo onboard) for Yangon. On the way to Yangon, I received the usual email, from the local checking with me if the ship wanted any lashing material because this time the ship was going to be loaded with Hardwood logs. I was given ample to submit the requisition. But I didn’t order any more lashing material even when my chief officer advised me, we should have more of that.  On arrival at Yangon, the agents informed me that the vessel will be loaded with hardwood logs for Haldia in India. The port of Haldia was situated in Hugli (Ganges) river. Weather was bad in Yangon and also in Bay of Bengal due to the presence of well-developed Southwest Monsoon.

When we received the details of the cargo to load, the Chief Officer came and told me that the lashing material we have onboard was insufficient to lash the heavy logs. Last time when the vessel called at Yangon, it was loaded with Teak logs. Teak logs that were very much small in diameter, length and weight compared to hardwood logs. I did not pay attention and did not order for additional lashing material.

When I saw the cargo (Large timber logs) being loaded on deck, I began to tremble. It was too late for ordering any lashing material at that time. As our charterers had very clearly stated that if we need any dunnage or lashing material, we have to give them at least seven days’ notice. Because Yangon was not Singapore or Bombay to find things at hand.

I realized that I was in deep trouble for ignoring the chief officer advise to order more lashing g material.

Cargo was loaded and we used all the material that was available on board for lashing and securing the cargo which was loaded on deck and hatch tops. On the 5^th of July 2004, the vessel sailed from Yangon and completed the river passage in about eight hours.

As soon as the ship came out of the river, we started to experience severe weather. The distance from Yangon to Haldia in India was about 770 nautical miles.

 

My biggest worry was that the moment I alter course to 312 degrees to head Northward, , the  Southwest monsoonal conditions, which was sea, swell and wind would be on the ship’s beam. In order to avoid this, I planned a zig–zag course which would have delayed the ship's arrival at Hugli Pilot station by about twenty-four hours. Our estimated time to be at this course altering position: Maw din point, which was at the entrance to Bassein river, position Lat. 14 degrees and 55 minutes, Longitude 094 degrees and 45 minutes, was 1030 hours on the 6^th of July.

 When the time to alter course was closing in, I went on the bridge, but before that, I prayed and prayed. Asked for pardon from God for my negligence, arrogance and my self-centred attitude due to which reason now the vessel was threatened to face extremely dangerous situation by way of heavy rolling of the vessel on beam sea and swell. In that situation the lashings of deck cargo, which definitely was inadequate, and if the lashings break the vessel would be in an extremely dangerous and in a uncontrollable position. 

Around 1045 hours on the 6^th of July as estimated the vessel was at the previously mentioned position, the Chief Officer also came to navigating bridge and also asked me if he could slowly do the alteration. I asked him to go ahead and do it. He did it very gently i.e., from a course of about 265 degrees to 312 degrees.

 Praise the Lord! It was a miracle, and the vessel started to ride the swell with only minimum rolling.

The vessel was on that course for nearly three days and there was no change in the movement. The weather was unbelievably bad due to well-developed Southwest monsoon. But the ship arrived at Hugli River pilot station and then at the port of Haldia without any problem.

It was a miracle. Thank the Lord Jesus.

However, I did not sleep soundly during the entire voyage. I must have had a short nap of  one hour at a time during the day but was awake throughout the night.

When the pilot boarded at the river to take the vessel to Haldia, I asked him “Mr. Pilot how long will it take to reach lock gates at port of Haldia?” He said “Captain, because your ship is not doing good speed it will be around four hours.” Which means around 1700 hrs on the 9^th of July. Then I told him “Mr. Pilot, I have not slept for about four days now can I go and take some rest?” He said “Yes, please. I will tell the duty officer when to call you.”

I had lunch alone, as the pilots said that they have already had lunch and thereafter I put my head down.  I thought, I must have been dead to the world for about three hours, and I when I awoke my whole body was soaked in sweat. This was all because of my pride and arrogance. I did not want to listen to the Chief Officer and order more lashing material in time.

 

With the help of God, the vessel safely arrived at Haldia.

 

Did I do the right thing…

 

Following my Nautical studies in Ireland and in England, I left London in March 1979 and arrived in Venice where I was scheduled to join the ship. On arrival at Venice Airport, our local agent was there to meet me. After completing arrival formalities, the agent took me to the ship. Prior to boarding the ship, I knew that most of the officers including the captain were Filipinos. It was the first time that I was going to work with them. When I went on board the captain and many other officers were not on board. Therefore, I reported to the Chief Officer. Fortunately for me the Purser was a Sri Lankan. He had a long name, and all officers on board called him Thanam.

Thanam was very happy to have me on board as he was the only Sri Lankan on that ship prior to my joining. He immediately ordered the Chief Cook to prepare dinner for us. Then he showed me my cabin. The ship did not have a Second officer when I joined. The third Officer had been doing the second officer’s duties while the Cadet on board had been doing the third officer's duties.

Therefore, my cabin was vacant and ready. After a few drinks Thanam and I had dinner, and I went to sleep.

In the morning, I went up to see the captain and he was in a bad mood, for some reason, and he was very rude to me. But I remained calm and handed over my appointment letter to him. At that time, he was telling me how superior the Filipino Merchant Navy Officers’ qualifications was whereas the British qualifications were quite low in the order. I immediately understood his attitude and also thought that I was going to have some rough weather, on board, for the next few months.

However, as the time passed, it was not as bad as I thought. Rudolfo T. Nunez, Chief Officer, became friendly with me and was good company, too.

With a full load of cargo on board "Regent Venture" crossed the Suez Canal and entered the Red Sea. The first port of call for discharging was Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. I was used to the style of British and Indian Captains. They were greatly confident in all areas of their job. Unfortunately, I did not see that quality in this captain. He panicked and started to shout at all of us on the bridge when approaching ports. Another thing that I observed was being from the same nationality the Captain and Chief Officer were not on talking terms.

The Chief Officer also had the Master’s license and had commanded vessels prior to joining this company. Because it was his first contract with our Company he had been employed as the Chief Officer.

There were two approaching routes to Jeddah, one from the North and the other from the South. Whichever it was, the approach to Jeddah was a tricky one, especially during night. On that day  around 8.00 p.m. the ship was approaching the port of Jeddah. At my request, the Chief Officer remained on the bridge, but only an observer. The captain asked me what the Chief Officer was doing on bridge after his duty hours. I told him that the Chief Officer had commanded ship’s to Jeddah a few times, so I requested him to be around. He did not ask any further questions!

Thereafter, in their language Captain spoke with the Chief Officer. The ship was on the approach route and the engines were on standby. Suddenly, for no reasons Captain made some course alterations. While doing that it was difficult to plot a good position and suddenly we felt that the ship hit something and listed to Port side (Left side). Immediately the rudder was put to the opposite side and the ship righted and steadied. At this time, I plotted the ship’s position, and it came on the side of a reef. This was confirmed by the Chief Officer’s position. Also, both the positions confirmed that the ship was out of the approach route.

At this moment, the captain panicked, and the Chief Officer took over the maneuvering. Under his instructions, the ship approached the Pilot Boarding Ground, and the Pilot boarded. The time was around 10.00 p.m. The captain informed the Pilot that he suspected that the ship hit a submerged object on the Northern approach route. He further said that it could be a submarine and immediately the Pilot informed the control tower. Possibly the Captain was trying to prove that the ship was always on the safe approach route. It was not true that he went off course and hit a reef. Under panic situations Capt. Moran’s behavior was found to be very unprofessional. The Navy and Police Officers were waiting on the wharf at the time of berthing the ship.

In the meantime, captain refused to accept the position given by the Chief Officer and myself. An inquiry was held during this time and a Senior Naval Officer of Saudi Navy checked the positions on the charts used. After taking down statements from the captain and the Chief Officer they left.

As the cargo was being discharged, it was found that the No. 1 and 2 had water ingress. And there was water to a height of about two meters. Following the detection of water in the holds, the ship was shifted to the anchorage. As the ship was classed with Lloyds Register of Shipping, LR Surveyor for Jeddah boarded the vessel. Following the survey, he advised the damaged cargo to be discharged and the ship to be dry docked for repairs within one month. We also had cargo for Aden. The damaged cargo was discharged into barges at Jeddah anchorage. Temporary repairs were carried out on the Surveyor’s advice. On completion of temporary repairs, the ship sailed for Aden and discharged all remaining cargo.

 

Thereafter the ship proceeded to Bombay for Dry Docking and arrived in Bombay on June 20,1979. After about three days it was dry docked and we were informed that a formal inquiry will be conducted by the Mercantile Marine Department Surveyor in Mumbai and also by the Class Surveyor. Capt. Moran got very anxious following receipt of the news of the formal inquiry. He came to my cabin and sat down on my day bunk and told me "John, I have six children, and I do not want to lose this job. Please help me out in this situation". Then I told him "Sir, I alone cannot do much and we must speak with the Chief officer". He immediately agreed and we had a meeting in the captain’s day room. It was first time he offered a drink to Chief Officer and me.

Whatever had happened in the past, the Chief Officer was with me to help the captain. We discussed our statements and made certain alterations to the entries which were on record.

That night all three of us did not sleep. I had a bright idea to avoid all these confrontations; I made some excuse to sign off prior to the commencement of the inquiry. On the following day, early in the morning, I went out and called a friend of mine and told him to send a cable to our Agents in Mumbai as if it was from home, for me to return home immediately as my father was terribly ill. I informed the captain and the chief officer about my action. Also, I told him that it was not possible to go on lying to surveyors, specially the MMD surveyor. Around 9.00 a.m., the Surveyors boarded the ship with the Senior Superintendent of the Company. While the Surveyors were interviewing the Captain, the Agent brought my message. The message was shown to the Superintendent. He was not happy to let me go but there was nothing much he could do about it. The surveyors did not have much time to question me as my flight was booked for the same evening. I informed my father that I was coming home.

Just before I left the ship the superintendent called me and told me "You are a product of this company, and you must tell me the truth of what happened." I lied to him, and he was very annoyed with me. At the time of leaving the ship, I had this thought that it was my last time with that Company. I was only trying to help my Captain to save his job because of his commitments at home. All the travelling expenses were deducted from my balance wages, and I had little money when I reached home.

Capt. Moran was full of tears, embraced me and thanked me when I met him at the gangway. But inside me I knew that my leaving was not going to do much good to him as there was more than required evidence to prove that the ship had gone off course and have contacted a submerged reef.

My father was there to meet me on my arrival at Colombo airport. They were happy to see me back.

They also asked the question why I had come so suddenly! My father was really sick when I came home as he had extremely high blood pressure. On doctor's advice he was admitted to hospital when he was in hospital. Few days later, he was discharged and brought home.

Once my father was in a position to listen to me, I told him the truth why I had to leave the ship and come home much earlier. He listened to my explanation but did not make any comments. Observing his facial expressions and knowing my father’s way of thinking, I knew he was not in favor of my action. As I have mentioned earlier, he was a very honest and straight forward person. As for him, if  the Master of the ship had made a mistake he must face the consequences and on my part I should have been honest and stood by the Company which provided me with a job to start my career.

 

The Officer and a Gentleman

In the year 1985, I was in Mumbai studying at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Nautical & Engineering College. Although I had a student visa, my wife went on a tourist visa and it was due to expire during the month of May,1985.

In Mumbai, immigration and visa matters were handled by the Special branch of the Police. One day I went there with my wife for the purpose of requesting for an extension.

As usual the place was crowded, and we waited for our turn. We went into the office around 9.00 a.m. and our turn to meet one of the officers came up around 11.00 a.m. I went up to the Officer and began to explain our problem, first of all he did not listen to me and suddenly he got on his feet and shouted at me, “You should know that we cannot extend tourist visa and, you must send your wife back to Sri Lanka and re-apply for visa and come back here” and after saying that, settled back on his seat and called the next person waiting to meet him.

When I turned back, I saw that my wife was in tears because we were put into a very helpless and a very embarrassing position by the Officer concerned.  I consoled her and told her not to worry that this was not the end of the world and that we will look for someone who would help us in this matter. On one side of the Office, there were two separate rooms. At the entrance to one of those rooms, there was a name board, and it showed D.D. Jog, Deputy Commissioner of Police.

I walked up to the entrance and spoke with the police constable who was on guard. I told him that I need to see the D.C.P. He then asked me whether I knew him. I said “Yes” and, I was allowed in.                                          

As I entered, I saw a Police Officer in uniform seated at his table. He was busy studying a file. I stood still and waited for him to look up. He looked up and asked me “Yes, what can I do for you?”. I addressed him as Sir and told him about my purpose of coming to Mumbai and that the exams are due in few months and that I have to get my wife’s visas extended. 

He rang the bell and the same officer who rejected me came to answer the bell. He saluted the D.C.P. and stood to attention. The D.C.P. and told him “This gentleman has his exams coming up and he has no time to waste in this office. You do the needful and extend the visa of his spouse and make sure that he does not have to come back.”

 I thanked the D.C.P. with all my heart and went and met with the Officer concerned.  When I returned to him, he had taken off his Lion’s skin and hung it out. Sheepishly he told me, “Why you had to go to him, I would have done it myself”. Any way the job was done thanks to Mr. Jog and until I left India, I did not have to go that office. However, prior to leaving the Office after obtaining the visas, I went up to the D.C.P. and thanked him. He said to me “You don’t have to thank me; I only did my job.”   

The incident added a page to life’s book of experience. More significantly, it paved way for us to meet an Officer and a Gentleman in the Indian Police Force.

 

Mr. Jog, I salute you!

 

My belief, this was a miracle.

For a brief period of time, I worked for an Australian Shipping Company which was operating in Papua New Guinea. The head Office of the company was in Lae. The ship I commanded was Coaster with a Length Over All of about 87 meters.  All officers and crew were from PNG, and I was the only out sider.

I assumed command of the ship at Townsville. The first port of call of the ship under my command was Lae. Thereafter, the ship sailed around PNG coast and in the East Coast of Australia.

Some of the ports that the vessel called in the PNG, did not have Pilots and tugs etc., Therefore, docking and undocking of the vessel was done by the captain himself. The best part was nobody told me about this until Henry my Chief Officer advised me on this. There was no problem, as professionally I could manage this kind of work. But what I am trying to highlight here is that nothing about this situation was mentioned at the time of my signing on.

Thereafter, the vessel called at the port was Wewak. This was the first port at which I had to do docking and undocking of the ship and everything went on well. I later realized that I was a bit too fast, and I took note of that.

The port thereafter was Vanimo, and it was a difficult maneuver. It was mainly due to the reason the port was located in a very tricky place. The berth had to be approached on a perpendicular direction, and having partly submerged wreck and a shallow patch on the Port side, and with a quite shallow on the Starboard side being the seashore.  

The ship was fitted with a Variable Pitch propeller. When going astern the bow cants to port. So, I dropped the Port anchor when the dock was approximately 50 meters from the bow of the ship and approached with slacking the anchor chain with keeping a control of the head way. When the ship was closer to the dock, the forward back spring was passed and by slacking chain as necessary ship was docked.    

The docking of the ship was without much of a problem.

However, during the second call at the same port, it was on a Sunday, and the vessel was approaching the dock at around 0730 hours. Usually there were men posted on the pier to take the ship’s lines and put on the bollards ashore. But this time, as the ship was approaching the berth, the  Second Officer who was manning the forward stations informed me ‘Captain there is nobody to take our lines’. I could see the situation and, it was low water making the situation more difficult. I knew that I was in trouble. I prayed to the Lord.

We had been watching and there was not a soul on the pier and in the container yard. And there was no chance of turning around!

Suddenly I saw a man wearing a red T-shirt running towards the dock. I knew that my problem was somewhat solved. The man came towards the bow of the vessel and picked up the heaving line and pulled one rope and put the same in the bollard as we wanted. After taking two mooring lines ashore I saw him running towards the after part of the ship. I was terribly busy maneuvering, but with all that, I told the Second Officer, “Eddie, call that man who ran across the yard and picked our lines. I want to give him something.”     

I thought of giving him a cash gift for his help. But to my utter surprise the Second Officer told me that there was no such person. I was so annoyed and said “Eddie, don’t tell me you are blind”.

And, when I checked with the third officer, Thomas who was manning the aft stations at the time of berthing he confirmed what the Second Officer said. No such person. Then who helped us with line?

Finally, the ship was docked without much problem.  

I thanked the Lord (The silent helper) for helping us out of this precarious situation.

 

Seamanship Notes

 

From Seamanship Notes

Seamanship Notes